NEW YORK
New York Daily News
Victim in sex abuse trial of prominent Orthodox leader Nechemya Weberman: ‘I wanted to die rather than live with myself’
By Oren Yaniv / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Speaking softly but confidently, a Brooklyn girl took the stand Tuesday and recounted three years of sexual abuse she allegedly suffered at the hands of her Hasidic spirtual counselor.
“I wanted to die rather than live with myself,” the 17-year-old said as she described alleged and disturbing assaults —including oral sex — by Nechemya Weberman, 54. She said the attacks started when she was just 12. “I didn’t know how to fight. I was numb.”
Her tale began in the sixth grade while she attended a strict yeshiva. She asked questions about God’s existence and flouted modesty rules requiring her to wear long skirts and thick tights.
“I was sent to the principal’s office every day because my tights weren’t thick enough,” she said in a jam-packed courtroom at Brooklyn Supreme Court.
After being labeled a “heretic,” she was sent to Weberman for counseling at his home office. The sessions lasted up to four hours each, multiple times a week.
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